Ricky Van Veen, 29

Notional, Chief executive

Where is Ricky now?

Ricky Van Veen has always had a knack for mischief: In sixth grade, he met Josh Abramson, who became his best friend, because they'd both been sent to the principal's office. Years later, the duo made their troublemaking official, launching CollegeHumor.com in 1999, when Mr. Van Veen was a student at Wake Forest University. The intentionally sophomoric website features everything from original videos to roommate confessions.

After graduation, Mr. Van Veen moved to New York, where CollegeHumor got its first big break with a 2005 profile in The New Yorker.

"That was like our bar mitzvah for becoming part of the city," he says.

Media bigwigs took notice, and in August 2006, Mr. Van Veen sold a controlling stake in the company to Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp, in a deal pegged at $20 million.

Last year, he relinquished day-to-day control of CollegeHumor to become chief executive of spinoff Notional, a production company that creates programming for the Web and television. Notional's series include Chopped on the Food Network and Don't Sweat It on Home & Garden Television. The company is also developing a slew of game shows, as well as Love Taxi, a dating show that will take place entirely in a cab.

"Ricky combines strong instincts about what an audience wants with the ability to execute ideas," says former NBC honcho Ben Silverman, now CEO of Electus, the IAC studio that houses both Notional and CollegeHumor. "He also loves what he does, and that enthusiasm is contagious."

IAC's "media and other businesses" segment, which includes Notional, posted revenues of $63.5 million in the fourth quarter, up 6% from the same period in 2008.